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Tell me, dear reader, are you aware of the name Nicole Holofcener? She’s only one of American film’s most compelling writer-directors, yet nobody seems to know who the hell she is. Why is that? Maybe she makes too few films (just five in 17 years). Maybe her witty dialogue seems too artful for the average Cineplex goer. Or maybe it’s because she’s a woman.

Enough Said stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Eva, a divorced masseuse. Upon befriending poetess and potential client Marianne (Catherine Keener) and falling for the infectiously charming Albert (James Gandolfini), she soon discovers that Albert and Marianne used to be married, and they both enjoy weaving detailed yarns about how gross and/or snobbish the other is. Juggling her newfound friendship with her equally fresh romance proves tough, but makes for riveting viewing.

Eva and Albert, a pair of single parents, each have a university-bound daughter flying away to college soon, which underscores not only their need for one another, but also Eva’s longing for a female friend in Marianne. With impending empty nest syndrome breathing down her neck, Eva is slow to give either of them up, all the while prodding Marianne for dirt on Albert. She’s committed to both, even though the two together are slowly but surely poisoning the well.

Enough Said is brimming with memorable performances from everybody concerned. Louis-Dreyfus (who, incidentally, looks like a glorious amalgamation of Tina Fey and Steve Carell) could play lovely in her sleep, but she’s outdone herself this time. Eva may be clumsy and awkward, but she doesn’t let it define her. Her and Albert’s first kiss, on his back-porch step, is adorable in that clunky, maladroit sort of way usually reserved for teenagers in such movies.

As for Gandolfini, approaching this movie without a tinge of melancholy over the late, great actor’s passing is tough. Although his charismatic and lovably goofy personality shines through the dark clouds looming over this posthumous performance, his loss is felt. Future film historians will treat his name with a similar level of reverence they currently hold for Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando and other legendary stars of yesteryear; Enough Said is a fitting legacy.

Golden performances aside, it’s the sheer brains behind this film that captivates. Enough Said is a rarity among romance movies in that it understands how adult relationships actually work in reality. The movie knows full-well that Gandolfini isn’t textbook-attractive and that middle-aged divorced mothers aren’t typical ‘catches’, but as Holofcener is the living master of nuanced subtlety, she writes bucketloads of soul into these characters. It’s easy to see the attraction.

Enough Said is the perfect autumn movie – intelligent and deftly written, deserving of high praise without brazenly demanding Academy Award recognition. It’s up there with Blue Jasmine, Frances Ha and Mud as one of the best dramatic pictures of 2013.